Is ELP the Most Disliked Prog Band?

Andyman1125 wrote: Slaughternalia wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: I'd say Dream Theater probably stir up more polarised opinion than ELP Dream theater's fan base are an army or raging fanboys who think that they can do no wrong, and make up for any hate they get im sorry you have such a one sided opinion

I love them first band to get me into prog on the BSS tour.  They reached a large audience and most of the hatred comes from people who hated prog rock. now echoed so loudly by prog fans who want to sound like they know something but don't realize they are just quoting the people who hate what they like.   

They weren't afraid to be ambitious, and sometimes too much so. Its the same way with comics. If a comic's act is to be edgy, sometimes he might simply go too far and its the same with ELP ... which is why I personally love them!!

ELP certainly seem to be the whipping boy whenever the popular music press want to knock progressive rock, pointing to over the top soloing, extravagant stage shows & general excess, but the fact remains (for me, at least), their albums up to & including the triple live WBMFTTSTNE (can't be arsed to type the whole title ) contain some of the finest examples of the genre.

ExittheLemming wrote: I'd say Dream Theater probably stir up more polarised opinion than ELP

Dream Theater certainly polarise opinions, especially here (speaking as a forum moderator, believe me, I know), but again, their back catalogue contains some stunning music; all they need is a singer

+++hides+++

Jim Garten wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: I'd say Dream Theater probably stir up more polarised opinion than ELP Dream Theater certainly polarise opinions, especially here (speaking as a forum moderator, believe me, I know), but again, their back catalogue contains some stunning music; all they need is a singer +++hides+++

EtL and Jim both make excellent points.
And yeah, everyone threw up a fuss about MP but the weakest member of DT is still around singing!

*hopes there is room for me*


Edited by JJLehto - June 24 2011 at 03:02

In terms of their popular image, yeah, I think it's pretty hard to deny rogerthat's point that they did showboat a lot. Remember Greg Lake's goofy little rug he'd stand on to play? Remember how they made a big show of how many huge lorries they needed to lug around their concert gear? I think part of the backlash was that they were doing all this at a time when most musicians who hadn't enjoyed a similar level of success simply couldn't afford to - Keith tried to take an enormous Moog rig on tour, for goodness' sake, a move which *Dr Moog himself* thought was crazy. I think the reason the punk backlash in particular focused on bands like ELP is that at the time it simply wasn't viable for anyone starting a band and struggling to make it in the music business to do what ELP were doing - their gear and their concerts were *expensive*, and that meant only a small elite of musicians could really compete on their turf.

Warthur wrote: In terms of their popular image, yeah, I think it's pretty hard to deny rogerthat's point that they did showboat a lot. Remember Greg Lake's goofy little rug he'd stand on to play? Remember how they made a big show of how many huge lorries they needed to lug around their concert gear? I think part of the backlash was that they were doing all this at a time when most musicians who hadn't enjoyed a similar level of success simply couldn't afford to - Keith tried to take an enormous Moog rig on tour, for goodness' sake, a move which *Dr Moog himself* thought was crazy.

Actually, quite apart from all of these, they simply waste too much time on redundant solos for Emerson and Palmer. Both solo really well and it is very entertaining to listen to but the opportunity to do something more substantial was wasted.  And at the end of the day, in terms of uniqueness, the Wetton KC ensemble of musicians blew it away imo.

ghost_of_morphy wrote: Harry Hood wrote: Kansas get far more hate on this site. Undeservedly I might add. I don't know about that undeservedly.  And among the classic prog acts, Jethro Tull might top ELP in the number of haters in the general population.

Well, I don't know, songs like Aqualung and Locomotive Breath are classic rock staples and even if he's regarded as eccentric, Anderson wins a lot of fans with his charismatic presence.

I can honestly say that Tarkus is the only song by ELP that I actually like.  But then again I flat out don't like Yes, and I can only enjoy Genesis in small doses.

So while I honestly do not like ELP that could stem from my more general feelings about symphonic prog.

ghost_of_morphy wrote: If you don't like all of the parts of Karn Evil 9, it is probably fair to say that you don't like symphonic prog.